jc: What are you drinking? Black tea?
msi: Yes
jc: Not Earl grey?
misi: no, I don't like Grey Earls

January 13
it's the end of another chapter. I was a little naive in thinking that i could be selective in what changes ans what stayed th same. I went to Chikalicious today and Don and Chika were as gracious as they always were, with Chris in the shop as well. It was 7:30, and they were closed for the night. They recommended their new shop across the street: Chikalicious Pudding. I'm not exactly sure what is going on across the street but it all changed.  They were always so warm and welcoming. Many after dinner desserts were had there. In the past, Icould scarcely go two weeks without partaking in one of her wonderful trios of sweets. Amuse, course, and pettit fours.

Chika and Don have done well for themselves. They sell shortbread cookies as $10 a box. They have a take-out place across the street, and they close at 7:30, even for patrons who have gone there for years.

I guess there won't be any more truffle biscuits with white chocolate mousse. Or the light and fluffy fromage blanc. They've found success, and they're growing into it quite well. I'm sure they'll continue to be as gracious and kind as they always are. Opening doors with a warm smile. But it's a little different when this quaint little dessert shopis growing up.

What else is going to change when we come back? And how will it affect me? It's a little shocking when you're out of the loop for a few brief months, but a year? When you're going with the flow it doesn't seem as dramatic. Oh well... We're jus going to see when i get back.

even i'm getting tired of the chatter about what mobile solution would work for the round the world trip. I looked into the eee pc, and for just $350, it's cheaper than the Nokia810. I think I'll put in an order for it. At worst, it will sit with my XO pc. But hey, the XO was for charity, so i don't feel entirely guilty. The pairing is just going to be the eee pc and the treo. Since the treo is on its last legs, we're not going to shed too many tears if it's lost.

If the eee pc doesnt work out, it will just be another home laptop, that will serve the need for bedside surfing.

testing...

January 12
Every now and again i'm i'on the train amd i spot  something beautiful. A woman is sitting across from us, with her daughter on her lap. The daughter is about 11, and she is half asian and black. The daughter is beautiful, with soft chocolate skin and thoughtful almond eyes. She is reading one of those preteen novels in her mothers arms. Times like this are precious.. In a few short years she'll be to old to lean up against her mother. In a few years she'll start growing up and chase her own indendant experiences... And the sincere, genuine experiences between a mother and daughter will become less frequent.

Now, an adult, i regress playfully with my mother. Jokingly i try to sit on her lap. I ask her to feed me. She obliges in the game, probably wishing for the same  chance to relive the same innocent moment.

January 12

It's party time! I've sent out the evite and the facebook event notification for the bon-voyage. Four days later we will be off on our trip. We're still doing our research and finding out that we're not roughing it as much as we thoought. We're just going to be the standard backpackers. Hostels it will be,

As for devices, I'm loving the Nokia 810. I can type pretty easily without being such a bottleneck to my thoughs. I like the type assis application that helps you fill in the blanks with longer words. The screen isn't compromised when you type like the iPhone. Hopefully the next device has phone and camera capabilities. In an ideal world, this would be integrated into the Nokia N82, that was a phone and an awesome 5mp camera.

I guess we're at the point where these devices are becoming a lot more specialized. I am definitely more of a content contributer than a pure browser.

But JC has a very good point. We already have the treo to use as a digital note taker. It might not be totally wifi cool, but its available. What sucks is xanga doesn't have a very good way of uploading the content with formatting. It just takes everything ad one paragraph. There must be a way to overcome that.

*Sniff*

Goodbye, little and wonderful Nokia 810.

January 8
I dont want to work anymore  i sorta think that i  can get through the last few days on cruise control. i like the Nokia keyboard a lot, but  i just want something that i can type on. Are there basic digital journals that I could buy? This device is pretty cool  you can start typing and within a few letters it can show recommended words that you can select and it helps you to type. The advantage that this offers is that i can draft a post and then tranfer online by wifi or just a manual process of copying the txt files over.

I found a really cool blog: http://www.thirteenmonths.com/.

I'm not sure that we're going to be able to do such cool stuff in this Xanga blog. I'd definitely like to be able to keep one blog, documenting everything in my life.

Thirty more days till I leave safety of the US. I want to be able to blog about my experiences, but I *still* haven't found a way to do it on the road. It looks like I'm going to be typing on JC's Treo, and then uploading when I get to an internet cafe. It's a cumbersome process, but

It also looks like we're only going to be gone till September. JC's a Groomsman, cousin is getting hitched in October, and helping out on the campaign trail for the 08 elections sounds pretty exciting. November - Jan would be slow season for getting back into the workforce.

That leaves only 8 months of traveling. We are budgeting 2 months per continent. Our *rough* itinerary is as follows:

First Leg:
Argentina - Buenos Aires
Argentina - Patagonia
Chile - Santiago
Chile - Easter Island
Peru
Brazil
Ecuador

Second Leg:
Morocco
Portugal
Spain
France
Switzerland
Italy
Turkey
...
...

Yeah, we haven't done much planning after South America. I hope we have enough research done before we go. I imagine it won't be too convenient to do the research when we get there. We're all for being spontaneous, but we'll need to balance that with knowing where we're going.

I really can't wait.

So I am
not too sure about the iPhone. I have to use the keyboard on the certcal anad its not so good at eeconoIng my wprs

This isn't wrong

The magnitude of what we're doing is beginning to settle
in. After a few days in the Nokia Store off of fifth avenue and testing
out their devices, the assistant manager, saya, "what you're doing is
awesome!" We relay our thanks and make it out of the store, distracted
by our new gadgets.

A brisk walk to Gingerman, we meet up with a friend who's traveled
extensively on Big Blue. He's been more places than I can count, and
has interacted with so many people that he's able to pull witty
anecdote out of both pockets.

"You're embarking on an experience some people would die for," metaphorically, of course.

And this morning, on my way to work at this ungodly hou, it's sinking in. But what other experiences do I envy?

Being wealthy would be great.  Oprah Winfrey wealthy. What would I do
with the money? I don't really like shopping. And luxury goods are
tiresome. Honestly, just beacause I can afford to spend a thousand
dollars on a handbag, doesn't mean I would. (I've purchase and returned
2 Burberry, 1 Marc Jacobs, and 2 Gucci bags in an attempt at
indulgence. The bags are back in the store because I don't really want
them)

So if I had oodles of money, what would I be doing?  The same thing I'm
doing now. Take the year off and travel. This echos of a conversation
that sparked it all in a little cafe in Montreal. 

What would you do, if you could do anything in the world, with unlimited resources?

The unlimited shopping spree popped into mind. Then the thought of all
the sparkly new acquisitions becoming piles of junk settled in. I could
give it all away...but that didn't make me happy.

I thought about throwing a huge pary and to invite all my friends.
After the wedding, the saying that you can't be in two places at once
resonated. With everyone I know at the party, I wouldn't have the time
to really interact with anyone.

Volunteering, donating to charity and promoting social welfare was
something I would do. But dumping money on a cause isn't as rewarding
as putting in your own efforts to see it grow. But then again, I don't
know how it would feel to drop 10 million dollars on a single charity.

Fame, in all its different forms doesn't interest me. The admiration of
strangers will never mean as much as the respect and pride of people
who know me.

The  experience that I envy, right now, has nothing directly to do with
fortune, but the fundamenal desire to start a family.  But I can wait
for that.

so, i'm here zt the nokia store and still testing devices to take with us on our travels. this has a built in keyboard and a smaller camera. i sorta like this device a lot   i can blog, but the problem is that i won't ncessarily have internet access. even with the free t-mobile hotspot.